Thayilla Pillai

<p>The conservative Pathanjali Sasthri severs relations with his modern brother-in-law Bharathi, a doctor. When Sasthri’s wife Parvathi, who had two miscarriages, finds herself pregnant, she goes to her brother to get medical aid and incurs the displeasure of her husband. The wife gives birth to a son but simultaneously adopts the son of a lower-caste woman who , creating some confusion for Sasthri as to which baby is his son. Eventually the couple raise the adopted child while their biological son becomes a -puller. The two boys grow up and become friends. In the end, the family reunites. was directed by and produced by A. Anand under Prasad Movies. Although Prasad was the co-producer, he was not listed as such in the opening credits. The screenplay was written by , based on a story by S. R. Pinisetty. Cinematography was handled by K. S. Prasad, art direction by Thotta, and the editing by A. Sanjeevi. The final length of the film was 15,567 feet (4,745 m). Like many films Karunanidhi wrote, reflects his political ideology. It speaks against the , and the problem of “orphan children”. Karunanidhi said that, through the character of Pathanjali Sasthri, he portrayed “how casteist feelings, age-old customs and rituals and had been deeply entrenched in the human psyche for generations.” The soundtrack was composed by . The songs “Chinna Chinna Ooraniyam”, “Kaalam Maruthu Karuthu Maruthu” and “Kadavulum Naanum Oru Jaathi” attained popularity. was released on 18 August 1961, and distributed by . applauded the film, particularly Balaiah’s performance, saying he “outshines all others in the cast”. The reviewer also praised Rama Rao and Muthulakshmi for providing “good comic relief”, and director Prasad for being able to “blend comedy and emotion so well”. The film was commercially successful, running for over 100 days in theatres, and became a milestone for “touch[ing] on caste” in that period. It was later remade in as (1975).</p>